The next morning, Kristoph and Joven allowed me to sleep as long as I wanted, and when I finally awoke, I was surprised by how high the sun had risen.

"uhm...I suppose I'm still recovering," I said as I broke into a long yawn. "I expected to be past all that by now."

"After only two days?" Joven arched an eyebrow. "Does it bother you much on those moments when you remember you're only human?"

"Very much, actually." I chuckled and looked over to Kristoph. "How much food does this inn have? I think we might wish to order it all."

He dipped his head at my request, said he would ask for as much as they would give us, and then left.

An hour later, we were well stocked with good food, and on our way again. It would be some time before the wounds I had suffered in the Havanian camp were healed, and perhaps some would never heal, but life was returning to me, and I was eager to rejoin my armies.

After another half day's ride, we crossed into Anneleon. It was a tremendous relief to be on my own soil again, assuming Havania hadn't yet stolen it from me, of course. Once we were there, we took the opportunity to get some rest. Joven and I left our horses in Kristoph's care, then wandered up a hill to see if we could spot the bluff overlooking Rakes Lake. My eyes went first to the horizon in search of my camp, but we were still too far away.

However, Joven's mind seemed to be moving in a different direction. "Where do you suppose she is?" he asked.

"Mandalin could have made it back to Ordmond by now," I said. "And if not, Albus will have sent out orders to search for her everywhere."

"So will Eeron." He shook his head, clearly angry with himself. "I promised to protect her, and I didn't. If anything happens---"

"Trust her to protect herself. She is intelligent and resourceful, and stronger than she's ever been given credit for."

"I know all that!" Joven nearly spat the words at me. "I know who she is, and probably better than you!"

I turned to him and might've been harsher if the worry wasn't etched so deeply into the lines of his face. In a gentle tone, I only said, "We will find her, Joven."

We fell silent then, and my attention went down the hill to a trail that looked as if it had been worn by hundreds of footsteps. I doubted they were Anneleon ---no commander of mine would've led our soldiers on a march this close to Havania's border. It was too risky.

But someone --- likely soldiers of Havania, or Meyadenval --- had recently come through here.

We ducked low, just in case they were near, and then watched and waited. Within a few minutes, Kristoph joined us and we debated whether to follow their trail or to proceed to Boltan in an entirely different direction.

"---Wait a minute." Joven held up his hand to silence us. "Just wait. Do you hear that?"

If I listened carefully, then I did hear something. It sounded like a moan, rising up the hillside from somewhere near the trail below.

Joven rose up tall, clearly with the intention of going down to investigate, but Kristoph pulled him back.

"He sounds injured," Jove hissed. "We have to help if he is."

"He's an enemy," Kristoph said. "You'll help him get well enough to return to the battlefield and kill more of our men."

"But that man isn't our enemy." Joven turned to me. "Isn't that what you said before, that only their king is your enemy?"

I had said that. But had I truly meant it? It was certainly possible that the moaning was a trap to lure us in, which was the last thing I wanted to face. If we met on the battlefield, that man and I would have to engage in a fight where only one of us walked away. But if he was injured and helpless, off the field of war, did I then have an obligation to try to save his life?

Obligation or not, I couldn't just leave him to die. During my time with the pirates, I had promised myself that I would not go down the dark paths they had followed. I would not become as they were.

So I nodded my permission at Joven, then Kristoph and I pulled out our swords to accompany him down the hillside. This didn't feel like a trick, but we had to be cautious nonetheless.

Tobias saw the man first, and to my surprise, he started laughing. We caught up to him and couldn't help but join in. This man --- this supposed enemy --- wasn't much older than I, and had all the ferocity of a frightened lamb. He had become caught in a hunter's rope that had grabbed his leg and whisked him upside down and into the air. Everything that wasn't attached to him had fallen out of his reach, including a poorly made sword that barely looked sharp enough to skewer a plum. He wore a livery similar to our own, and must have been upside down for so long that his face had now become as red as his hair. Truly, he was a ridiculous sight.

When he saw us coming, he hailed us as friends and said, "I beg you to help. Please, get me down."

I walked around the area, beating at nearby bushes to be sure no one else was hiding there. He rotated his weight until he turned to Kristoph, the oldest of our group and the one he would naturally suspect was in charge.

"I've been here over a day, sir, and the pain is becoming intolerable. As a fellow Havanian, I beg you to help me."

With my Havanian accent, I asked, "What is your name?"

"Martino Rock. My father is a wood maker, in the north east."

"Ah, then you must have learned your fighting skills from him. How did you get into this position? Are you being punished?"

"N-No."

"Are you being hunted?" I squinted at him. "Or are you the bait?"

"We were marching but I was terribly thirsty. So when I heard a stream, I snuck away to get a drink. When I ran to catch up to the others, faster than I knew it, I became caught in this trap. By then, everyone was too far to hear me calling for help. I'm not even sure anyone knows I'm missing."

Joven removed his knife and went to cut him down, but I pressed him back with my hand. "Where was your group going?"

"east. Apparently, the armies of Khario were stopped at the border by a small group of Anneleon. I heard that Khario would've won, but Bymar arrived at the last moment and sealed Aramoor doom."

So Aramoor had come? That was excellent news on two fronts. It meant that Rudy had achieved a victory at the border, and also that Bronn had gotten through safely. But since Martino still assumed we were from Havanian, I only shook my head and said, "Anneleon are horrid people, aren't they? What right do they have to defend themselves in this war?"

Martino nodded, then frowned as if confused. He finally gave up and simply asked, "I'm really hurting. Can you help me down?"

With my permission, Kristoph strode forward and used his sword to cut the rope on the boy's leg. He tumbled to the ground, but we immediately noticed the blood around his ankle where the rope had sliced into his flesh.

Joven darted toward him and began examining it. "How'd this happen?"

Martino took a look at it and his eyes rolled in his head, forcing him to lie back again. "I tried for hours to wiggle my way free. It hurt, but I had no idea it was so bad."

Joven pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, one I recognized as belonging to Mandalin, and I wondered why he should have it. He ran toward the sound of water and reappeared moments later with it dripping wet. He wrung it out, then knelt before Martino to wash his leg.

"We should go," Kristoph whispered as he leaned over to me. "We've freed him, and there's nothing more required of us."

"What if your roles were reversed? Wouldn't you hope for more from him?"

"Of course." Frustrated, Kristoph kicked his boot against the ground. "It's just that I don't like the feeling of being on this trail, so exposed."

I didn't like it either, but Joven looked up at me and shook his head. Now that he had washed the blood from Martino's ankle, it became apparent how bad the injury was. The rope had cut deeply into the flesh and probably would become incredibly painful once full feeling returned to his leg. Even now, Martino was beginning to show signs of strain and held on to his thigh, as if that would help.

Tobias stood and then pulled me aside. "If we do nothing, it'll become infected. He'll lose the leg, and since he won't be able to walk on it, he'll possibly lose his life too."

"There's nothing we can do about that," I said. "Cutting him down is one thing, but we're not physicians. We have no provisions to help him."

"I've been studying medicine." Joven smiled meekly, almost as if he was embarrassed to admit it. "I figured with you as our king, knowing how to heal injuries would be a good idea. Please,

Richard, let me help him." I nodded and Joven immediately set to work, asking Kristoph to return to our horses for a clean rag and a waterskin. Turning to me, he described a plant with thick, pointed leaves that would need to be cut free and gathered. He said it had a gel inside that Martino needed.

"Where do I find it?"

"Near water, and in full sun."

I nodded at him and hurried toward the stream. After Kristoph and Joven had kept such a careful watch over me these past few days, it was disconcerting to be alone and my senses were heightened. We were so close to Havania. Surely others in his group would eventually notice Martino's absence and come back to look for him.

I scanned the ground, looking for any plant that fit Joven's description, and questioning my decision to spend so much precious time here. It was the right thing to do. I knew that, and yet Mott's suggestion that I was strengthening an enemy also lingered in my mind. Martino might not be any sort of warrior, but that didn't mean he was incapable of doing us damage.

Finally, I had wandered far enough downstream that I saw Joven's plant. I pulled out my knife to collect some of the leaves, but from this angle, something caught my eye, a sparkle of ruby, cut in the shape of a diamond. That was odd.

When I turned to look at it, I immediately recognized the object the ruby was attached to. It was a shoe, but not just any ordinary shoe. With nothing better to do while riding in Joven's escape carriage so many days ago, I had stared at that same ruby for some time, and I knew it now. This shoe belonged to Mandalin. The princess had at some point been in this exact place.